Loan-Anh Tran Kao

713.752.8667

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Loan-Anh Tran Kao is Of Counsel at Crain Caton & James, where she serves as outside general counsel to businesses that need senior legal leadership but not a full-time legal department. Her clients include real estate developers and investors, property owners and managers, financial institutions, and closely held and family-owned companies. She has nearly three decades of experience, more than a decade of it as an in-house general counsel. Clients rely on her as an extension of their management teams, not as outside counsel brought in one matter at a time. She is the first call on day-to-day decisions; handles commercial contracts, corporate governance, vendor and service agreements, insurance and claims, collections, financings, and acquisitions; and manages disputes and outside counsel when they arise. Her approach is strategic and forward-looking, and responsive when it counts: she works alongside clients while decisions are still being made, and when a problem surfaces, she works with the team to resolve it quickly. She is value-driven, guided by integrity and a clear set of principles and focused on practical results that make sense for the client’s business. She also believes that people matter, and she builds lasting relationships with the clients and teams she serves.

She has served as outside general counsel to small and closely held businesses since 2020. Before that, she was the first General Counsel of McCord Development, Inc., a Houston diversified real estate company with office, industrial, hospitality, life sciences, and multifamily assets. As a member of the executive team, she advised the CEO and senior leadership on legal strategy, corporate governance, and business development, and managed commercial litigation, mediations, insurance claims, bank financings, workouts, acquisitions, and dispositions. Before McCord, she spent ten years as Assistant General Counsel of The Hanover Company, a vertically integrated multifamily and mixed-use developer, where she built the company’s legal infrastructure and was responsible for legal, transactional, regulatory, and risk management matters across its domestic and international holdings. At Hanover she structured and managed a joint venture with MetLife to develop real estate in seven countries, and she co-founded Hanover Investment Advisors, LLC, serving as its General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer and leading its registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

She began her career in the global finance group of a large international law firm, representing banks, financial institutions, and corporate clients in domestic and international project financings, syndicated loans, securitizations, acquisitions, and restructurings. That finance background carries into her banking practice today, where she represents financial institutions in recovering losses from altered, counterfeit, and forged checks under Articles 3 and 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code and in ACH and wire fraud matters under Article 4A.

Outside the office, Loan-Anh enjoys spending time with her three children, taking walks, reading, and practicing Bikram yoga.

Outside General Counsel & Corporate

Serving as outside general counsel to closely held businesses on commercial contracts, corporate governance, risk management, and dispute resolution.
Serving as outside general counsel to a California real estate developer, including negotiating an electric vehicle charging agreement with Tesla, advising on vendor and state incentive program matters, and representing the developer in an AAA commercial arbitration against its electrical contractor.
Representing a Houston office equipment distribution and service company in the sale of substantially all of its assets to a national office technology dealer, including negotiation of the asset purchase agreement, corporate approvals, employee retention agreements, and the closing and escrow release.
Representing a corporate taxpayer in challenging the IRS’s disallowance of its employee retention credit claim, including a formal protest to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals and coordination with the Taxpayer Advocate Service.
As in-house counsel to a national multifamily developer, co-founded its SEC-registered investment adviser and served as the adviser’s General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, managing its registration, compliance program, documentation, and investment vehicles.

Real Estate & Joint Ventures

As in-house general counsel to a Houston diversified real estate company, closed the acquisition of more than 200 acres at a significant price reduction and settled multiyear litigation for eight-figure aggregate current and future savings to the company.
As in-house general counsel to a Houston diversified real estate company, built the legal and compliance infrastructure for its affordable housing and life sciences platforms, including underwriting, capital raising, and deal structuring.
As in-house counsel to a national multifamily developer, structured and managed an international real estate joint venture with MetLife with holdings in seven countries.

Banking & Payments Fraud

Recovering altered and counterfeit check losses for community banks through presentment and transfer warranty demands against depositary banks.
Representing a regional bank in tracing and recovering a seven-figure loss from fraudulent wire transfers, including litigation and third-party discovery directed to the receiving institutions.
Advising financial institutions on ACH disputes under the NACHA Operating Rules and UCC Article 4A, and defending federal benefit payment reclamation claims under 31 C.F.R. Part 210.

“Hacked Email, Fake Wire Instructions, Forged Checks: Limiting Business Exposure Before Fraud Hits, UCC Defenses, Agreement Audits, and Security Procedures That Hold,” (with William “Pat” Huttenbach), MylawCLE webinar